Interactive English

This traditional Christmas carol was written by the Austrian priest Joseph Mohr, and the music was composed by the Austrian teacher and organist Franz Xaver Gruber. This audio recording of Silent Night includes a reading of the English-language text followed by magical harp music based on the original composition.

Red Riding Hood is walking through the woods, taking a lovely meal to her ailing grandmother. She has been warned about the big bad wolf, but when she meets a shaggy stranger, he insists he is the big good wolf. Should she trust him?

RocketShip is a sci-fi adventure featuring a little red rocket ship called Red. Red, along with his best friends Rex and Holli, travel the universe in search of people to save and help. Together, the team known as the "Rocket Rangers" journey into many adventures, and Red learns what it is to be a true hero and a friend.

'I never saw a book without wanting to read it,' said a cerebral friend to us the other day. This expresses the interest every person of this type has in the printed page. 'I never see a library without wishing I had time to go there and stay till I had read everything in it'. The most essential thing in the world to any individual is to understand himself. The next is to understand the other fellow. From this course you are going to learn which of the five types you are and how to get the best out of it.

We continue to explore the world of our feral friends and learn about some of their darker secrets, some of the naughty episodes of their hidden lives, and some of the most revealing confessions of what cats think about their human masters. It may come as a surprise, but cats often do watch humans and attempt to imitate their behaviour, albeit not always very successfully. And in the second half of this collection we meet humans who don't seem to know how to handle their pets without embarrassment and even those humans who try to be a bit too close to nature for their own good.

The theme of romance continues in this volume and begins with iconic 'The Lady with the Dog' by Anton Chekhov. Set in Yalta, Crimea, appears at first as a holiday romance. Gurov is a married man but he holidays on his own and has a history of holiday affairs. He meets the lady of the story’s title with her Pomeranian dog. But Chekhov’s love stories are not romantic accounts of unrequited love or of love at first sight. Or, even of tortured love that is amplified by the agony of being unfulfilled. No, these are Chekhovian tales that surprise and intrigue our imagination. The second of this collection continues with King Lear.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The happiest season of them all. This volume offers selected sorties dedicated to Christmas and winder seasons from some of the best storytellers such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William Shakespeare, L. Frank Baum, Anton Chekhov. There'll be tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago. And hearts will be glowing. The collection opens with 'The Heavenly Christmas Tree' by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, followed by 'At Christmas Time' from Anton Chekhov. In the second part we have 'A Kidnapped Santa Claus' by L. Frank Baum, followed by The Winter's Tale from William Shakespeare.

This selection of stories and tales is perfect for that cold winter night to cosy up around fireplace and enter magical world of far away lands or kingdoms of the past. This volume opens with two tales from Beatrix Potter: 'The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse' and 'The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin', followed by 'Puss in Boots' by Charles Perrault. And in the second half we have Anton Chekhov's story, 'A Gentleman Friend', followed by William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'. Read in English, unabridged.

The tune of this traditional Christmas carol is also known by its Latin name, 'Adeste Fideles'. John Francis Wade was one of the first to include it within his publications, but it is quite possible that the lyrics and tune date from earlier times. Arrangements of this tune also exist in compositions of Franz Liszt. This recording offers reading of the English-language lyrics followed by magical harp music based on original Christmas carol melody.

This traditional Christmas carol was written by John Henry Hopkins, an American clergyman. He wrote the carol as part of a production he organised for his students at The General Theological Seminary in New York City, where he held the post of musical director. This recording offers reading of the English-language lyrics followed by magical harp music based on original Christmas carol melody.

Every individual owes it to himself to find the right work and the right mate, because these are fundamental needs of every human being. Lacking them, life is a failure; possessing but one of them, life is half a failure. To obtain and apply the very fullest knowledge toward the attainment of these two great requisites should be the aim of every person. Only those men and women whose natures automatically encourage each other in the doing of the things each likes to do, in the way each likes to do them, can be happy together.

Every individual should find a vocation furnishing one of the three kinds of work for which he has the greatest ability. Then he should go into the particular branch of that vocation which is best adapted to his personality, training, education, environment and experience. To be a success, you must produce something out of the ordinary for the world. To know what this is, classify the kinds of activities you take to naturally. You can be a star in some line that calls for those activities.

People in whom the muscular system is proportionately larger and more highly developed than any of the other systems are Musculars. This system consists of the muscles of the organism. Without them we would be helpless masses of fat and bone; we could not blink an eye nor lift a finger. Yet we are so accustomed to them that we rarely think of them and seldom give them credit for what they do.

“These are poems that go beyond the limits of words. By wrestling with the poems in 3rd I, by engaging with them, the world is more intensely lived. This guy is offering us everything. This is heroic poetry.” (John Marsden)

Imagine walking along a beautiful mountain stream. You can hear birds singing as the stream rushes by. Light waves of fresh air are cooling your face, and the sun warms your back as you keep walking. In the distance you see a beautiful waterfall. You start walking towards this waterfall and feel the mist on your face and hands as you approach it. You can now see the water bounce off the rocks and bubbles of air large and small pop.

Long ago, in the merry days of good King Arthur, there lived a ploughman and his wife. They were very poor but would have been content and happy if only they could have had a little child. One day, having heard of the great fame of the magician Merlin, who was living at the court of King Arthur, the wife persuaded her husband to go and tell him of their trouble.

The magi, as you know, were wise men - wonderfully wise men - who brought gifts to the newborn King of the Jews in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. Read in English, unabridged.

There was once a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called the Simpleton. He was laughed at and despised and neglected on all occasions. Now it happened one day that the eldest son wanted to go into the forest to hew wood, and his mother gave him a beautiful cake to take with him, so he might not suffer from hunger.... Read in English, unabridged.

Once upon a time, there were three bears who lived together in a house of their own in a wood. One of them was a little, small, wee bear; and one was a middle-sized bear, and the other was a great, huge bear. They had each a pot for their porridge - a little pot for the little, small, wee bear; a middle-sized pot for the middle bear; and a great pot for the great, huge bear.

This progressive tension-reduction technique teaches you how to train your body for relaxation. It can be practised before bedtime, after waking and during the day to reduce stress levels and buildup of tension and to improve quality of sleep. This technique is based on cognitive behavioural therapy, with focus on releasing tension in each muscle group and the whole body. Creating physical relaxation in the body is important for sleep and can reduce anxiety.